Many students are familiar with the massive, 80,000-voter election for Montgomery County’s Student Member of the Board of Education; far fewer know that the Student Member of the Board (SMOB) position exists at the state level as well. Under current law, the Student Member of the Maryland State Board of Education is appointed by the Governor after a thorough review by the Maryland Association of Student Councils (MASC), Maryland’s state-wide student government. The state SMOB votes on education policies, standards, budgets, and all matters other than staff dismissals or certain kinds of state-level appeals.
Delegates from middle and high school student governments will elect two candidates for state SMOB, one of whom will be selected by incoming Governor Larry Hogan. MASC recently unveiled the list of the top five candidates for the position; unlike the previous three years, no candidate is from Montgomery County, which has not been home to a state SMOB in roughly a decade. The following are the top five candidates:
Matthew Saxton is a student at Century High School in Carroll County.
Veeraj Shah is a student at Severna Park High School in Anne Arundel County.
Anna Shulabe is a student at the Western School of Technology and Environmental Science in Baltimore County.
Deeksha Wahlia is a student at Kenwood High School in Baltimore County.
Quinn Wandalowski is a student at Smithburg High School in Washington County.
Article by the MoCo Student News Staff